File-box.



w. c. & A. L. wms.

FILE BOX.

APPLIUATION FILED JULY 19, 1907.

. Patented May 2,1911.

WITNESSES.-

nnrrnn s'rxr ns PATENT orrron WILLIAM C. WEIS AND ANDREW L. WEIS, 0F MONROE, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNORS TO THE WEIS MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF MONROE, MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

FILE-BOX.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed July 19, 1907. Serial N 0. 384,526.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, WILLIAM C. Wars and ANDREW L. WEIS, citizens of the United States, residing at Monroe, in the county of Monroe and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in File-Boxes; and we do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to-make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and fi ures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

Our invention relates to file-boxes for letters and other documents and, more particularly, to that class of boxes known as transfer-cases which are used for the storage of letters and other documents which have been filed alphabetically and which have been transferred from their original filing-cases and put away in the transfercase.

Our invention is designed to furnish a file-box which shall be convenient, durable and inexpensive, and which may be easily closed and secured against accidental opening.

In filing boxes of this class manufactured by different makers there is a considerable difierence in the position of the perforations through the back margin of the indexed separating sheets or boards used to divide the documents into alphabetical groups. These perforations are designed to receive a spindle which secures the documents and indexed separating sheets in proper relation.

Our invention is also designed to furnish a box in which the filing spindle may be adjusted as may be desired to accommodate the various positions of the perforations in the sheets to be filed or transferred.

Our invention also relates to certain details of construction hereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the claims.

We attain the objects above mentioned by means of the devices and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and shown, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a perspective View of our device with the lid raised, the drop-front lowered and a portion of the indexed separating sheets cut away to show the construction and arrangement of the spindle hereinafter referred to; Fig. 2, a perspective View of a modified form of the back of the box hereinafter referred to; Fig. 3, a'further modification of the same; Fig. 4, a central vertical sectional elevation of the front of the box and its fastening device hereinafter referred to; Fig. 5, a side-elevation of the spindle hereinafter referred to, detached, and Fig. 6, a top-plan View of the detachable clip hereinafter referred to for retaining the sheets upon the spindle.

Like numerals of reference indicate like parts throughout the drawings.

In the drawings, 1 is a file-box or transferbox consisting of the back 2, ends 3, bottom 4, lid 5, and drop-front 6. The back, ends and side are permanently and rigidly secured together. The lid 5 is hinged, as at 5, to the top-margin of the back in any preferred manner,preferably by a piece of stout flexible cloth. The drop-front 6 is in like manner hinged, as at 6 to the front margin of the bottom 4. The front margin of the lidis provided with an overlapping downwardly projecting rim or flange. When the drop-front is raised and the lid 5 is lowered the inclosure is complete.

We have provided as a means for securing our box in closed position a device which, together with the means for manipulating the same and for securing the same in position, consists simply of two pieces of sheet metal such as tin. One piece consists of a narrow strip or blank 7 which is passed through a narrow slit in the overlapping ledge or flange upon the front of the lid, the outwardly projecting end of the piece being bent downwardly, as at 8, against the front of the lid, the inwardly projecting end of the piece being bent downwardly against the inner side of the lid, as at 9, the lower edge of this part being again bent backwardly at a right angle, as at 10, to form a narrow projecting ledge or catch. The other part of the fastening device consists of a narrow strip of sheet metal 11, bent at a right angle at its lower end to form a prong 12 which projects into and engages the dropfront near its lower margin.

13 is a narrow tongue out out of the strip 11, as at 14, bent forwardly and passed through a narrow aperture in the drop-front and then bent upwardly, as at 15, against Z closed position.

35 as illustrated in Fig. 5.

4c spindle.

55 part 22 snaps into place.

the outer side of the dropfront. 16 is another tongue out from the strip 11, above the tongue 13, as at 16 and bent outwardly 10 of the part 16 and to permit the swing of the part 17'.

Near its upper end the piece 11 is bent outwardly at a right-angle to form a catch, as at 19, which engages the ledge 10; on the I51 piece 7. At its extreme upper end the piece 11 is inclined backwardly, as 20. The dropfront being closed and the lid being now thrown down into closed position, the ledge 10 slips upon the inclined part 20 and by its 20: wedge-like action springs the piece 11 inwardly. When the lid is in closed position the spring snaps back into position with the part 19 in engagement with the ledge 10. Now the lid and drop-front are fastened in To unit'asten the box the thumb is pressed on the exposed portion 17 in the recess 18. This springs the strip 11 inwardly disengaging the parts 19 and 10' so that the lid may be raised and the dropfront lowered.

21 is the spindle upon which the indexed separating sheets are threaded, as at 21*. This spindle is bent into U-shape, inverted, one of the legs being longer than the other, The longer leg near its extremity has a circumferential channel, as at 22, for the reception of a removable clip 23, forming a head which prevents the sheets from slipping off from the The piece23 consists of a small thin sheet of metal through which is an aperture 24 of such diameter as to fit closely the groove 23 at the lower end of the spindle. The aperture 24 is connected at one side by a narrow slot 25 with a larger opening 26.

Leading from the aperture 25 to the nearest margin of the sheet is a cut 27. The piece 23 is applied to the leg of the spindle by slipping the opening 26 over the extremity 0f the spindle and then moving the plate edgewiseso. that the neck 22 slips through the narrow channel 25 into the aperture 24. The cut 27 during this operation permits the sheet toyield slightly laterally so that the The part 23 is removed from the leg of the spindle by the reversal of the operation just described.

Into the upper edge of the back of the box are bored vertically two or three or more holes 28 of such diameter as to receive with a close fit the shorter leg 21 of the spindle 21. The spindle by being given a part turn to the right or left on its longer leg may be engaged with either of the holes 28 so that the spindle may be made to accommodate those file-boxes or transfer-boxes in which the spindle-hole is not centrally disposed. The long leg of the spindle being -passed through the indexed separating sheets, the plate 23 being in place and the short leg of the spindle being inserted into its proper hole, the device is ready for use.

In Fig. 2, we have shown, as a substitute for the holes 28, a strip of sheet metal 29, having a series of crimps 30 which, when the sheet metal is secured to the inner side of the back of the box by nails 31, form sockets 32 for the reception of the short leg of the spindle. Instead of securing the sheet 29 by means of the tacks or nails 31, the ends of the sheet may be extended, as at 33, and in these extensions may be cut sharp triangular tongues 34 bent backwardly at a rightangle and which may be driven into the inner surface of the back, as shown in Fig. 3, so that the sheet metal strip will be held in place as effectually as if nails or tacks were employed.

Having described our invention, what we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1s,

1. In a device of the described character, a box, a back for the box, and a spindle, said back having a plurality of sockets adapted, respectively, for engagement with said spindle.

2. In a device of the described character, a spindle bent into U-shape, one of the legs of the spindle being provided near its extremity with a circumferential groove, and a strip having therethrough an aperture adapted to fit said groove, said strip having also a larger aperture connected by a narrow opening with the smaller aperture, said apertured piece being slit from its outer margin to said smaller aperture, the arrangement being such that the grooved end of the spindle may be slipped endwise into the larger aperture and thence sidewise with its grooved port-ion in close engagement with said smaller aperture.

In testimony whereof we afiix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM C. WEIS. ANDREW L. VVEIS. Witnesses:

WALTER A. MEIER, LEO J. NAVARRE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). 0. 

